


honey, we should run away

by sapphirescribe



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Cuddling, Deaf Clint Barton, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Pheels, Phil Needs a Hug, Post-Episode: s02e14 Love in the Time of Hydra, clint is the best boyfriend, phil needs a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 15:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3655542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphirescribe/pseuds/sapphirescribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Where are you?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>DC safe house.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Be there in thirty.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	honey, we should run away

**Author's Note:**

> I just caught up on all the post-break SHIELD episodes the other day and all that needs to happen is Phil get a day off and then everyone sit down and have a goddamn honest conversation. There's nothing I can do about the latter, but I tried to give Phil some time off.
> 
> P.S. It's scary writing in a new fandom for the first time.

Phil gets the text just after May leaves his office.

_Can you get away?_

His heart clenches. On top of everything, he can't handle another emergency, and Clint wouldn't ask him to get away for anything less.

_Where are you?_

_DC safe house._

_Be there in thirty._

***

It takes less than fifteen minutes to get to the safehouse but he waits in an alley across the street for another fourteen just watching. It doesn't feel like an emergency situation, which just makes him more wary. He can't shake the feeling that he's done something wrong with Skye and it's making him question his judgment elsewhere.

He doesn't go in with gun drawn, but it's a near thing. He unlocks the door with his left hand, resting his right on the grip of his pistol.

The safe house is dark and quiet when he gets the door open. He stands in the doorway and lets his eyes and ears adjust. He hasn't used this safe house in years so he doesn't remember it as well as some others where he's spent memorable days (nights, weeks). He is certain it's not supposed to smell the way it does, though. Freshly baked bread and Italian spices really aren't a SHIELD speciality. 

"Are you going to come up here or are you going to just wait and watch all night? That's usually my job," comes Clint's voice from upstairs.

Phil's brain speeds back into gear at the sound of it. Jesus, he hasn't heard that voice in far too long.

He shuts the door and slides the lock into place in one swift movement, and then he's taking the stairs two at a time, full of the need to see, to _feel_ Clint once again.

Light comes into view as he hits the landing, and there's Clint, standing in the doorway of one of the bedrooms, backlit by softer light than should be present in a SHIELD safe house. He's not bruised, not bleeding, barely even bandaged, and he's the most welcome sight Phil could have ever hoped for.

Clint holds out a hand to him, nodding his head to the room behind him.

Phil takes Clint's outstretched hand, weaves their fingers together, and probably squeezes a little too hard. But with everything going on he needs the grounding presence Clint's touch gives him.

Clint pulls him into the room and shuts the door behind them. The soft lighting is coming from one bedside lamp over which Clint has draped a pillowcase. The fresh, delicious smells Phil can now pinpoint to the takeout bag sitting on the table in the corner. There still seems to be a distinct lack of danger, which gets Phil's hackles up.

"Clint, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"May said you needed a break."

That takes him longer than it should to process.

"You're off the clock until 0600, babe."

"No, I can't— there's so much going on. I have to get back to the Bus. We have so much to do. And what if Skye—"

"Phil," Clint interrupts. "If May says you need a break, it means you needed a break a month ago. It's ten hours. You need to rest, you've been on too long." Clint's hands slip under the lapels of Phil's suit jacket and up to his shoulders, pushing the jacket off as he goes. "Plus, I miss you," he says as he rests his forehead against Phil's.

They don't do emotions often; Clint bringing them in now means he's serious. It's just about the only thing that gets through Phil's brain at this point. And god, he's missed Clint too.

***

They sit down to eat, and it's hasty bites of what is probably delicious Italian food (Phil hasn't eaten off the Bus in so long he struggles to remember it), fingers entwined on the table, precious few words exchanged.

Later, when Clint makes him undress, he finally realizes Clint is in pajama pants and one of Phil's old Army shirts. It's a tiny thing, but at the same time so insanely comforting Phil can hardly breathe, and he staggers across the room to sit on the bed.

It's his turn to hold a hand out to Clint.

He presses his face into Clint's stomach, into that soft shirt, and starts talking. It probably doesn't make any sense without context. May might have told Clint he needed a break, but she would never have given him the details as to why. And Clint doesn't ask. He just lets Phil wrap his arms around him, and runs his fingers through Phil's hair, and listens.

Eventually, Phil babbles himself in circles and quiets.

Clint kisses him on the top of his head, takes his face between those strong, calloused hands, and presses another soft kiss to his mouth.

***

Phil drops his watch on the nightstand next to Clint's hearing aids. He reaches for the light, but Clint waves him off. They get into bed and Clint pulls the covers over their heads, cocooning them in scratchy sheets which have never been more comfortable.

It's somehow more intimate than if they were merely lying in the dark. There's still light coming through the blankets, but it's muted and soft. It makes Clint look soft. Under here, it feels like they're separate from everything, like it's Clint and Phil against the world.

"You're not Coulson here, you don't have to have all the answers," Clint whispers.

Phil hides his face against Clint's chest and just lets go of all of the stress and worry he's been carrying since... he doesn't even know.

"It just keeps coming," he says. It doesn't matter that Clint can't hear him, Clint knows him better than he knows himself sometimes. He knows Clint understands even when he can't hear. "I don't know how to make it stop."

Clint doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to. Phil feels quiet and safe here, wrapped up in Clint's arms. This is good. This is the first good thing he's felt in a long time. 

"May deserves a promotion," Clint says just as Phil thinks the same thing. He chuckles, and nods into Clint's chest.

He's not in his own bed or his own home, but with Clint wrapped around him it's just as good. He'll have to go back to reality eventually, to whatever Mack is hiding, to Skye, to Zabo and his followers, to his fracturing team... but for now he can pretend everything is going to be okay.


End file.
